Books Blog : chick lit, fictionhttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/tags/chick+lit/fiction/default.aspxTags: chick lit, fictionenCommunityServer 2008 SP1 (Build: 30619.63)Recent Chick Lit Readshttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/10/14/recent-chick-lit-reads.aspxWed, 14 Oct 2009 21:33:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:1902KickinLibrarian@evpl0http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=1902http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/10/14/recent-chick-lit-reads.aspx#comments<p><img height="211" width="163" src="http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/09/28/image5345445.jpg" alt="Prospect Park West" style="margin:10px;" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="214" width="161" src="http://www.halogenlife.com/shared_assets/images/0002/6921/mercury.jpg" alt="Mercury in Retrograde" style="margin:10px;vertical-align:bottom;" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="215" width="162" src="http://www.sweetspot.ca/uploaded_images/TwentiesGirl.jpg" alt="Twenties Girl" style="margin:10px;" /></p>
<p>In the past few weeks since my last blog post, I have been on a chick-lit rampage.&nbsp; I have been speed-reading through recent releases like I don&#39;t have a hundred other things to do.&nbsp; Laundry piled up, kitchen didn&#39;t get cleaned, and packing for my move didn&#39;t happen.&nbsp; These three books are part of the reason that I have been slacking.&nbsp; </p>
<p><em>Prospect Park West&nbsp;</em>by Amy Sohn&nbsp;takes place in Brooklyn&#39;s prosperous&nbsp;Park Slope&nbsp;neighborhood.&nbsp; The lives of four women intersect as they deal with husbands, children, and playground politics.&nbsp; Not earth-shattering reading, but worth a chance if you have the time.</p>
<p><em>Mercury in </em>Retrograde by Paula&nbsp;Froelich has a cover&nbsp;strikingly similar&nbsp;to Prospect Park West.&nbsp;&nbsp;Froelich&#39;s novel takes place across the bridge in Manhattan where three&nbsp;women who are down on their luck join forces to get their lives back in order.&nbsp; The ending&nbsp;is pretty predictable, but it is an enjoyable read.</p>
<p>Going across the pond to England, Sophie Kinsella&#39;s&nbsp;latest book<em>, Twenties&nbsp;Girl</em>, introduces us&nbsp;to&nbsp;Sadie, a wild flapper from the 1920s and her great-niece, Lara, living in&nbsp;present-day London.&nbsp; Sadie has passed away alone in a retirement home, but&nbsp;her spirit remains on&nbsp;Earth pushing Lara to find&nbsp;who stole Sadie&#39;s prized possession.&nbsp;&nbsp;True to Kinsella form, this book is laugh out loud funny and&nbsp;highly recommended.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Happy Reading!&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://evpl.org/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1902" width="1" height="1">humorreviewsfictionbookschick litLondonfunnylovewomenfriendsSophie KinsellaAmy SohnPaula FroelichHester Brownehttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/07/22/hester-browne.aspxWed, 22 Jul 2009 14:03:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:1696KickinLibrarian@evpl0http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=1696http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/07/22/hester-browne.aspx#comments<p><img height="500" width="330" src="http://covers.fictiondb.com/covers/1416540075.jpg" alt="The Finishing Touches" style="float:left;margin:5px;" />If you haven&#39;t read anything by Hester Browne, then you need to go to the nearest library and check one of her books out!&nbsp; Browne has written a hilarious series that begins with <em>The Little Lady Agency.&nbsp; </em>The story begins with Melissa Romney-Jones, a Londoner who has once again been fired from her job.&nbsp; In order to find more permanent employment, Melissa looks up her old etiquette teacher who serves as a companion for older men.&nbsp; A few dates into the job, however, Melissa finds out her job wasn&#39;t exactly what she thought!&nbsp; Determined to help those men who are quite helpless, Melissa starts her own business- <em>The Little Lady Agency- </em>to help men figure out their wardrobes, how to act on dates, etc.&nbsp; All is going along swimmingly until Melissa meets American Jonathan Riley.&nbsp; As Melissa struggles to get her company going, she also struggles to keep her attraction to Jonathan under control.&nbsp; Melissa&#39;s story continues in&nbsp;<em>Little Lady, Big Apple</em>&nbsp;and <em>The Little Lady Agency and the Prince</em>.&nbsp; Now that she is off the singles market, Melissa tries to figure out how to balance her business of helping bachelors while keeping a boyfriend.&nbsp; </p>
<p>In June 2009, Browne published a new stand-alone book.&nbsp; After waiting for weeks on the hold list (even librarians have to wait for the good books), I eagerly started reading <em>The Finishing Touches</em> this weekend.&nbsp; Browne has done it again!&nbsp; Not only does the book have laugh-out-loud moments, but there is also a bit of seriousness thrown in as well.&nbsp; Twenty-seven years ago a baby was left outside the Phillimore Academy for Young Ladies with a note and a small bee pendant.&nbsp; Betsy grows up in the shadows of the Academy walls anticipating the day she will become one of the Phillimore girls.&nbsp; Imagine her shock when her adoptive parents decide she is &quot;not that type of girl&quot; and send her off to university.&nbsp; Twelve years later Betsy returns after the death of her adoptive mother in hopes of bringing the Academy into the modern age and finding her real parents.&nbsp; </p>
<p>&nbsp;If you&#39;re looking for a new author that will make you laugh and feel a little weepy, check out any of the Hester Browne books.&nbsp; </p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://evpl.org/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1696" width="1" height="1">reviewsfictionbookschick litLondonseriesfunnylovePerfect fireside reading for Fallhttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2008/10/20/perfect-reading-for-fall.aspxMon, 20 Oct 2008 20:58:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:750librarianinheels@evpl0http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=750http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2008/10/20/perfect-reading-for-fall.aspx#comments<div></div>
<div>When I was a kid, I loved to prop myself up in a wing chair by the fire, stick my feet out, and read a good book.&nbsp; While I don&#39;t have a fireplace in my house, I have established a comfortable little reading ritual for myself when the nights are cool, and&nbsp;this fall&nbsp;I&#39;m reading a few books that I think the casual reader might enjoy.<br /><br />For those of you out there who really enjoy&nbsp;material that might be classified as&nbsp;&quot;chick lit&quot;, but you like your fiction served up with&nbsp;some humor and a little bit of social criticism, try anything by Marian Keyes.&nbsp; Keyes is an&nbsp;Irish&nbsp;author and one of my favorites -&nbsp;&nbsp;her books are alternately entertaining and thought-provoking. Right now, I am reading <a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0?/tangels/tangels/1%2C242%2C357%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=tangels&amp;3%2C%2C25/indexsort=-"><em>Angels</em></a>, an installment in her non-sequential saga of the five Walsh sisters. I have read <em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0?/twatermelon/twatermelon/1%2C21%2C26%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=twatermelon&amp;2%2C%2C2/indexsort=-">Watermelon</a></em>, <em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0/?searchtype=t&amp;searcharg=rachel%27s+holiday&amp;sortdropdown=-&amp;SORT=D&amp;extended=0&amp;searchlimits=&amp;searchorigarg=twatermelon">Rachel&#39;s Holiday</a></em> and <em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0?/tanybody+out+there%3F/tanybody+out+there/1%2C2%2C3%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=tanybody+out+there&amp;1%2C1%2C/indexsort=-">Anybody Out There</a>?</em>, about Claire, Rachel and Anna - this book is about Maggie and&nbsp;I&#39;m still waiting for the book about Helen, the most outrageous of the Walsh sisters.&nbsp;(hopefully Keyes will write one soon...it should be the best, the most hysterically funny of the bunch...maybe that is why it&#39;s taking her so long to write it?)&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0?/tthis%20charming%20man/tthis+charming+man/1%2C3%2C5%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=tthis+charming+man&amp;3%2C%2C3"><em>This Charming Man</em></a> is&nbsp;Keyes&#39; latest novel (and for those of us old enough to remember - it&#39;s also the name of a song by the Smiths)...about the interworkings of toxic relationships between four different women and one man.&nbsp; The subject matter is more intense than Keyes has tackled in the past - but this one really seems like it will deliver, as hers always do. &nbsp;It&#39;s our November selection for our chick lit book discussion at Oaklyn. <br /><br /><em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0?/tthe+heretic%27s+daughter/theretics+daughter/1%2C3%2C3%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=theretics+daughter+a+novel&amp;1%2C1%2C/indexsort=-">The Heretic&#39;s Daughter</a></em> by Kathleen Kent is a novel based in truth, set in 1691-1692 Massachusetts Bay Colony and centers around a family&#39;s involvement the Salem witch trials. It&#39;s engrossing reading...particularly when you realize that Kathleen Kent, the author, is a descendant of the family portryed in the novel.&nbsp; I am really enjoying it. Perfect fall reading...so curl up by the fire (or with a bunch of pillows, some cherry Hershey kisses, and a warm blankie - and a cat or two...) and dig in!</div><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://evpl.org/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=750" width="1" height="1">humoroaklyn branchfictionchick litbook discussionsMarian KeyeswitchcraftDo you love "chick lit"? http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2008/09/09/do-you-love-quot-chick-lit-quot.aspxTue, 09 Sep 2008 15:46:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:459librarianinheels@evpl0http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=459http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2008/09/09/do-you-love-quot-chick-lit-quot.aspx#comments<p>...Never fear - we have a support group for you!!!</p>
<p>If you&#39;re a fan of chick lit, and you&#39;re looking for a book discussion, why not try the Oaklyn Chick Lit book discussion?&nbsp; The group meets monthly in the Oaklyn Cafe.&nbsp; We&#39;ve discussed books by Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner, Meg Cabot, Marian Keyes, Jane Austen, Helen Fielding, and Elizabeth Gilbert.&nbsp; Each month this fall, our group will be reading a book selected by a member of the group.&nbsp; The schedule for the remainder of the fall is as follows -</p>
<p>September 17&nbsp; <em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/tchange%20of%20heart/tchange+of+heart/1%2C14%2C26%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=tchange+of+heart+a+novel&amp;1%2C1%2C">Change of Heart</a></em> by <a href="http://www.jodipicoult.com/">Jodi Picoult<br /></a>October 15&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/theartbreaker/theartbreaker/1%2C7%2C33%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=theartbreaker&amp;7%2C%2C21/indexsort=-">Heartbreaker</a></em> by <a href="http://www.juliegarwood.com/">Julie Garwood</a><br />November 19&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/tthis+charming+man/tthis+charming+man/1%2C3%2C5%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=tthis+charming+man&amp;3%2C%2C3/indexsort=-">This Charming Man</a></em> by <a href="http://www.mariankeyes.com/">Marian Keyes</a><br />December 17&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/tthe+beach+house/tbeach+house/1%2C9%2C16%2CB/frameset&amp;FF=tbeach+house&amp;5%2C%2C6/indexsort=-">The Beach House</a></em> by <a href="http://www.janegreen.com/">Jane Green</a><br /><br />The Chick Lit Discussion Group meets at 3 pm on the given dates - copies of the discussion books can be picked up at the Oaklyn Information desk.&nbsp; </p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://evpl.org/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=459" width="1" height="1">oaklyn branchfictionchick litJennifer Weinerbook discussionsJane GreenMarian KeyesJulie Garwoodjane austenPride and Prejudice